Alison Bennett

I thank the right hon. Member, but there are questions and uncertainty because the future of EHCPs and what may replace them has not been made clear. That is causing genuine concern for campaigners and people who have children with special needs. In West Sussex, approximately a third of children with an EHCP require transport to and from school. SEND transport is budgeted to cost the county council £31.3 million this year, which is up from £13.5 million five years ago—every year, it spends more than its budget in this area. Managing that provision is hugely complex for councils and requires judgment on the individual needs of a child, including their need for an escort and/or private transport, as well as the individual home-to-school route that they travel. Does the Minister agree that that is one of the less considered pressures on council budgets in relation to SEND provision, particularly in larger, rural county council authorities? Does she also agree that the Government need to consider how to mitigate those costs in any review of SEND provision in order for the reforms to be successful? The system is not delivering for children, families or local authorities. Any changes must be rooted in children’s rights and common sense, and not in arbitrary cost-cutting exercises. One example that instils hope and sets an example is Woodlands Meed in Burgess Hill, which provides an education for those with special needs. After a decade of delay because of a string of broken promises from the Conservatives on West Sussex county council, years of tireless campaigning by governors, teachers, parents and local Liberal Democrat councillors led to Woodlands Meed finally being completed with the opening last year of the new college building. I visited the new college site a few months ago, and saw at first hand what a brilliant and inspiring environment it provides. It means that pupils can seamlessly transfer from the school to the college, avoiding the loss of friendships and long journeys to other providers. Prior to that, the school had to make very difficult decisions each year about whether it could continue to meet the needs of the children moving from the school to the college. In some cases, children had to be sent to a school away from their friends and community. That would, for example, affect a child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who could thrive at the school intellectually but would have to be moved to a site with the hygiene, therapeutic and accessible facilities that they would have needed for their physical disabilities. The building of a local facility at Burgess Hill saves money in the long term, and provides a better experience for students and families. We need more examples like that, and more fantastic places like Woodlands Meed. Families have waited too long for a system that works, and change is overdue—it is time we delivered that change.